Sarah Rees Brennan

Justine Larbalestier

Living in a city founded by vampires where she has never personally met an undead neighbor, Mel endeavors to save her friend from an unwise romance with a blood-drinker that is complicated by a mysterious disappearance, a cranky vampire cop and an occasional zombie. 35,000 first printing.

Team Human

Monicap

Okay, so I’m pretty sure none of y’all have seen me after watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the Vampire Diaries. Some of you might have read my reactions to books like The Vampire Academy/Bloodines by Richelle Mead. If not I’d just like to make one thing clear: I love vampires. I am obsessed with them.
That being said, I have also in the past said that under no circumstances would I ever consider BECOMING a vampire.
There are many perks to being a vampire. Lets see if we can list them:
Eternal youth.
You get, like, a thousand sexy points upon turning. 
You get to spend forever with your one true love.
It’s very romantic.
You can be really, really bad.
But, there are there drawbacks:
You have to live for eternity.
You may be stuck as eternally middle-aged, depending on hen you turned.
Other people you love, family, friends, you’ll outlive them.
No sunlight.
In some books, no sleep.
In this one, no laughter. No crying.
And me? I just… I couldn’t. the very thought of eternity scares me to death. Its so big and the though of having to fill all of it? I’d go insane.
Not to mention, I’m having a hard time that my best friend moved to another state for college. If she died and I’d have to live forever…
No sunlight. I…
No sleep? That makes filling up eternity even harder.
And than, this last one? No laughter, no crying? That’s such a big part of me. My life is an emotional roller coaster. I’ve had some pretty low lows, and I’ve hated them. I’ve… I tried to commit suicide once. And I’ve had several heavy contemplations of it, both before and after the attempt. 
But when I’m not on one of my lows… I laugh all the time. it’s par of what keeps me going.
So… I guess, by those standards, I’d be on Team Human, right?
I still love vampires. I adore them. If I was offered to be a vampire blood slave, I’d probably do it.
So, does that make me Team Vampire?
I guess that I’m just Team Me.
Does that make sense?

Wow, deep thoughts. This was actually a pretty funny book. I spent all afternoon cracking up. Why don’t I just get to reviewing it already, huh?

Plot: Fantastic. 5/5
So we’ve got a mystery thing going on. Sort of a murder mystery, but that’s only half the plot. The other half has to do with vampire complications, and how the vampires and the murder-mystery connect. (no, the vampires did not kill the dude)

Characters: 4/5
Mel: Has got the WORST NAME EVER. Seriously, what kind of parents would inflict that upon their child?
Other than that, I liked her as a character. She was snarky and funny and determined, and her unease of vampires was understandable. Though at times, it seemed like less of an uneasiness and more like a hatred, even though she consciously insisted she didn’t hate vampires. Her view on vampires… confusing. It did seem like she hated them at times, but, as was observed by other characters, they’d never done anything to her. No dead family members or anything. Yeah, there was thing with her friend Anna, but that gives Anna cause to hate vampires. Not Mel.
Cathy: Eh. I’m not sure if I believed her character at all.
Anna: We never really got to know her that well.
Francis: Okay, I really loved the way he talks. It’s hilarious.
Kit: Most definitely my favorite character. Possibly because he kind of has the same thoughts regarding and becoming one as I do, towards the end at least.

Romance: 5/5
If you ask me, Mel and Kit are a perfect match. They’re both really funny, and they’re complete opposites in nearly every other way.

+2 points extra credit for making think such deep thoughts.

Overall grade: 16/15

That’s an A+. Good job, Justine Labralestier and Sarah Reece Brennan. You guys get a smiley face sticker!

Melissa Palmer

Book #8 Read in 2014 
Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan (YA)

This book focuses on Mel trying to prevent her friend Cathy from deciding to become a vampire. Cathy falls for vampire Francis and decides that she wants to transition and become one herself. Mel feels that this a ridiculous idea. As Mel tries to convince Cathy, she is also trying to find her friend Anna's missing father (supposedly he ran off with one of his vampire therapy patients) and tell with her own feelings towards Kit, a teenager who has grown up among vampires when he was abandoned as a baby on vampire Camille's doorstep.

This book has great humor to it, poking sly fun at the vampire books and movies that have become hot reads of late. The characters are interesting and realistic. The plot combines romance and mystery in an excellent way. I enjoyed it.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Nicki

the main character is so annoying i simply can not.

Julia Seiser

I just couldn't get into it. It board me to death and annoyed me more than any other book I've read. I just don't know how people get into this.

Team Human

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